Thursday, July 5, 2012

Song's Quilt + Pattern (and giveaway)

Last year, Ashley asked if I would make a quilt for her and her daughter that she was adopting. Of course, I gladly said yes. We looked over a couple of quilt patterns and then I told her I was wanting to make a herringbone quilt and to write up a pattern for it. She was totally on board with the idea and that's how Song's quilt was born.

I've "known" Ashley for a while now. About 3 years and a half. I kind of have a sense of of what her style is. I knew she liked bold patterns and bright colors so I based that on the fabrics I chose. She is also a lover of vintage which was how I chose the vintage sheet for the back.

Photo by Ashley Ann Photography

During the time I was designing and making her quilt, she sent me a picture of Song so I could see who I was making this quilt for. I always kept Song in my heart while working but mostly I thought of Ashley. I don't know how it feels to wait for your child on the other side of the world. To know she is there for you to have but you can't go to her yet. To yearn for her to be in your arms but the time hasn't come for you to do that.

But in the midst of that pain when you are away from your child, such wonderful things have happened along the way. Thousands of dollars were donated to help fund life saving surgeries for children who were not able to afford it. Encouragement and prayers from strangers were said daily. And to read about the strength of a mother who continued on with her life of helping others and teaching her children to do the same was convicting, encouraging, and a blessing.

Photo by Ashley Ann Photography

I felt the herringbone pattern was the perfect metaphor of the "ups" and "downs" of waiting and being patient.

Rightfully so, I named the quilt "My Song".

I am giving away 3 patterns to 3 lucky winners. You have up to the 3 entries:

1. Leave me a comment telling me what was the hardest thing you had to wait for (serious or funny).2. Follow my blog3. Follow my FB page.

Giveaway will end next Wednesday, July 11 at 11:59 pm. I'll draw 3 names on July 12. Good luck!

Giveaway is done. Thank you!

And for those who don't feel like waiting (haha), the pattern is in the shop and is set at an intro price of $5 for the first 5 customers. SOLD OUT! Now set at the original price.

And if you don't sew and would like me to make you this quilt, contact me!

Thank you, Ashley, for allowing me a part in your journey. I hope you, Little One, and the whole family will love this quilt for ages and ages.

98 comments:

Oh what a precious quilt and, of course, so much more special because of it's beautiful story. In answer to your question, the hardest thing that our family has had to wait on has been "settling." Our last three years included three job losses, two cross-country moves and selling our newly built home. We finally feel like life is falling back into place. God has been gentle and very much our cup of fresh and living water along the tough journey. "Ups-and-downs" might possibly have been our family motto for awhile. Praise Him for a reprieve...

Anna - the quilt is breaktaking! I have been praying for Ashley's journey and hoping the rest of it goes faster for them than the first part.

I follow your blog and FB page already:) The hardest thing I've had to wait for is answers. We are dealing with some health things with my 20-month old little boy, and going to lots of appointment bbut have no answers yet:)

The hardest thing I had to wait for was my tooth. Up until 3 years ago I had 4 retained baby teeth. 3 years ago my jaw decided that was way too many and began to reabsorb one. My dentist tried to save it, but it just wasn't working so we decided to do an implant. I don't know why I thought they'd take out the tooth and install the implant on the same day. No, I had to wait 4 months with a horrible, hillbilly gap. I felt like I needed to take up smoking just to have something to fill the hole! I've got a full set of teeth now and never knew how wonderful that would feel!

Oh boy this is a tough one. I guess anything worth having is hard waiting for. I'm waiting for the day I can return to my home country, Spain, where I can be with my family again.Thanks for the giveaway, it's a beautiful pattern.

I love this quilt! It's absolutely beautiful! The hardest thing I have had to wait for is my daughter being born, when I was pregnant. It's such a big step to take in your life and so rewarding when she actually came.

Gorgeous quilt! The hardest thing I had to wait for was my son to be born. I was very sick and in bed most of my pregnancy and it seemed to drag on and on and on. When I was sick and feeling miserable I thought it would never end. He is worth every minute of it!

I had to wait for a daughter and then we got two. Both Adoptions through foster care. One older daughter now 22 and a sweet baby now 6. I had two bio sons and then we could not have any more. So we waited many years until God Gave us these two joys!! And I am Carol Schneider not Eric Schneider :-)

I came across your quilt by chance on flickr and just HAD to visit the blog to find out more! It is truly stunning, such clean lines and I can imagine wonderful variations depending on fabric choice :)

And you have a giveaway! wow! is it ok to enter as an international? (I do have a friend in the US it could be sent to if I was superlucky and won)xxBettinaibs102 (at) hotmail (dot) com

Waiting has always been difficult for me, as I'm a very impatient person. The hardest thing I've ever had to wait for was the end of the long-distance part of my relationship. My boyfriend and I started dating in high school, and continued throughout college, even though he stayed in Texas and I moved to Colorado. In June of 2011, after 7 years of being apart 95% of the time, we finally made our home together.

That quilt is gorgeous! And I love the story behind it. I'd love to win a copy :-) Let's see here..... It took me a long painful year to talk my husband into baby #5. He was worried about my health but I just KNEW that I could do it one more time. And darn it, I was right!

Love this Quilt! Your blog is amazing...The hardest thing I've ever had to wait for is the birth of both my children; in those last days, the discomfort, but also the anticipation of wanting to see them and hold them. :)

This quilt is beautiful! The hardest thing ever to wait for....ACL surgery on my knee. It is crucial to my job that I be in shape and healthy and very active - tearing my ACL put me out of commission for 10 months! I waited once - had the surgery - surgeon made a mistake - had to wait another 6 weeks for another surgery....I am about three more weeks before I am back to work full time - Can't wait now!!! Love your blog BTW - so cute, inspiring and very informative!!!! Looking forward to following you!

The hardest thing I have ever had to wait for was last year. My husband had just finished medical school and we were waiting to find out where he was going to go for residency. We had to wait for two month to find out if we could stay where we had grown up and our families and friends were, or if we would have to move. We ended up having to move 800 miles away.

Uh, my husband ordered a MINI Cooper Convertible for my Christmas present in 2007 and I had to wait for it to be manufactured and shipped. It didn't get to me until March 12, 2008. That was a hard wait!

Hardest thing to wait for? When we adopted our daughter Caroline from China. We were sent the referral documents and her photo -- but then had to WAIT before we got permission to travel to China and get her. Seeing her picture (which I carried everywhere I went) and knowing she was there in an orphanage and not being able to go get her was the very hardest thing! But when we got her, she was lovely and wonderful -- and she's now a lovely, wonderful 16 year old. The agony of waiting pretty much disappeared once I held her in my arms! (PS I love love love this quilt and hope I win the pattern!)

The hardest thing I have waited for is watching my mom and hoping the times that she would feel better, such as after my dad died and after she went thru chemo for breast cancer. She is a lovely person and it's hard to watch someone you love struggle so much.

I love this quilt and the story of how it came to be. Waiting for a child is the hardest thing that I have had to do and I did it twice. both my daughter and son are adopted and very much worth the wait.Thanks goodness I had my husband to be there with me.

The first thing that popped into my head that was the hardest thing I had to wait for was my youngest son. He was 15 days late, which I was kinda my fault, because I wouldn't let the doctor induce me. Regardless, it was very difficult waiting for the Lord to decide to send him. I was scheduled to be induced later that morning of the day I finally had him. The 2 weeks mark landed on a Sunday so I was scheduled for the next morning and after much prayer I finally went into labor on my own on Sunday evening and had my sweet little comedian at 2 am. I'm grateful I waited because I was only in hard labor for about 3 hours and had him an hour after I got to the hospital. The best gifts in life are worth waiting for!

I'm about to be finished waiting for my adopted nephew and his new parents to arrive home! My sister and her husband began this process four years ago. In February the adoption agency called with news of this baby boy and we were able to start counting down the days. They are in China now and I can hardly wait until July 8th - tomorrow!

I think the hardest thing I have to wait for is to see my grandparents again. They lived long, wonderful lives.. And they are celebrating healthy bodies in a heaven far greater than this earth.. But the selfish part of me misses the twinkle in my grandma's blue eyes, and kissing my little grandpa's forehead after our weekly peanut butter pancake dates. <3

What a blessing it is to know I'll see them again. (:

Thanks for the chance to win this precious quilt. Good luck to all the people trying to win!

The hardest thing I've had to wait for was for work on our house to be finished. Earlier this year I was very pregnant for our third child, and we were remodeling our entire house. Timing was terrible. We were living at my mom's house for 11 weeks while we waited for the house to be livable! I know in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a big deal, but for an expectant mamma it was!

Anna, what a beautiful blog and quilt. I love it so much. I featured this post on my blog today! Hope you have a great weekend. http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-favorite-things-thursday-coming-to.html